Don't Listen, Just Talk

I know, I know..it's not my day...but did you hear what Eliphaz was saying to Job? Eliphaz (from now on simply E) presumes upon Job's sensibilities..invades his safe place.. because Job needs to be set straight. Starting in Job 4, E begins to explain to Job how he needs to "buck up and accept the inevitable." You are a good man, but no one is completely innocent...accept this pain as simply the inevitable result of being just another sinner! Essentially, E is saying, "Job, you are suffering because you have sinned." He backs this up..4:8-you reap what you sow; 4:17-is any man more righteous than God? 5:6,7-trouble doesn't just happen, it is the result of man's sinful actions! "Job, what you need to do is take responsiblity for the fact that you are a sinner, God is righteous and His judgement on you is justified. In fact, you deserve what you are getting and the proper response should be to be grateful that God cares enough to discipline you, because, as Hebrews teaches us: God disciplines those whom He loves!" It goes on..."Quit complaining..5:1..call out! Who's going to pay attention to you? 5:8-Quit complaining and start praying!!! Job you need to repent, realize that this is for your good, to get you to love God more, to get you to turn loose of those idols in your heart, to get you to be more righteous. Your suffering is God's discipline and when you see that you will really be blessed!" Wow. You know what? On the surface, this is all true! We do suffer because we live in a fallen world. Man does sin and God will not allow sin to go unnoticed. He does discipline those whom He loves. The votes are in: E is orthodox! But E is an orthdox ass.

In Job 3, Job wishes that he had never been born. How would you respond to that? E decides to rebuke Job. Job's honest, soul-bearing rants don't fit E's theological grid. E is more interested in correcting than empathizing. He's defending God's integrity! How dare Job be so honest and up front and..and..sinful!?! E is sorely lacking in compassion and wisdom.

We all tend to forget that discipline is not the only purpose for suffering. Remember John 9..the story of the man born blind. The disciples asked Jesus who had sinned and brought this on the man. Jesus points out that no one's sin was the cause of this. Now, to be sure, fallenness is the source of blindness, but the blindness was not retribution for sin...it was not the consequence of this man's parents' or his own waywardness! This man was blind so that God's works could be put on display in the present and future and people would be able to see those works and praise His holy name! He was blind to be a blessing to future generations who would be given eyes to see and ears to hear!!!!

We must remember that God is always telling a story much bigger than our own. Paul tells us in 2 Cor 4 that death may be working in us, so that life may be produced in someone else!

What about Joseph? In Genesis 39 he is being completely upright. In v. 9 he is determined to please God. He refuses the advances of Potiphar's wife, not because he is fearful of the consequences or because he doesn't want to be a nasty fornicator. He refuses saying, "How could I do such a wicked thing and SIN AGAINST GOD!" Now tell me...wouldn't that make God's heart soar!? Here's one of His creatures saying, "I don't want to sin because it would offend God." I would have written the story differently...by defending Joseph's AND God's integrity! Potiphar's wife's nose would have fallen off. She would have been afflicted with hiccups and farted non-stop for the next 40 years. Potiphar wouldn't have laid a hand on her! Instead, God let's her get away with a grand deception and Joseph goes to prison! But in verses 2, 3, 21 and 23 there is a beautiful set of parentheses..."the Lord was with him." Huh? What does that mean? It means that God was not abandoning Joseph (or Job..or anyone else) but was writing a grand story that puts His majestic glory on display! God had a plan...Joseph would tap into that later..."What man intends for evil, God intends for good."

Job and Joseph experienced great pain, pain that boggles our imaginations. In the course of this pain they were losing dreams and hopes and aspirations. This exposed their hearts. We hear of both of them ranting and raving, weeping and wailing. They questioned God, argued with God, disagreed with Him. And through it all, God listened. He didn't get His feelings hurt. He didn't turn His back. "The Lord was with him....." And you and I get a reminder that God's hand of providence, though not always pleasant, is always merciful and good and purposeful. He is always writing a bigger story than ours and we are getting to be a part of "telling it to the generations to come."